Commemorating ten years of podcasting Slate has published a few different pieces on the medium, including an interview with Marc Maron, a podcasting great and a favorite here at Paul’s Letters, as well as an article on how podcasts, including Maron’s, are helping us talk about mental health issues.
As you can tell from the posts where I’ve written specifically about how WTF has either helped me understand or contextualize some of my own experiences with depression, anxiety and alcoholism, I can attest to the power of this intimate, long-form medium for talking about serious issues. While a podcast isn’t therapy, it can be therapeutic to listen to others who have faced similar struggles. One of the podcasters mentioned in the article, Paul Gilmartin, sums it up nicely:
“I get emails every day from people all over the world who tell me things: They changed their mind about killing themselves, they left an abusive relationship, they are now in therapy even though their family thinks they’re weak for doing it,” Gilmartin says. “Somebody will say, ‘I’m not as scared and I now realize I’m not alone,’ and that was really the reason I created the podcast. I knew what it was like to be alone and confused by my mental illness and my addictions.“
In addition to using writing about my own experiences with mental health struggles on the blog as a therapeutic exercise, I also set it up as a way to educate and put a face to mental health issues and connect with others who struggle with depression, anxiety, etc. I’m wondering if trying out a podcast would be worthwhile. I think I may record something specifically for the blog and post it, but I’d love to get feedback from other bloggers/podcasters with their experience with this, and, any tips they may want to share.
Stay tuned…
Paul's letters... 